Electronic checkbook

ABSTRACT

(1.) An electronic checkbook consisting of: 
     (A.) a dedicated microprocessor which continues to perform a specific function and store the information on a day to day basis, even when not otherwise in use, 
     (B.) Checks. 
     (C.) Checking stubs with numbers corresponding to the checks upon which can be kept handwritten records of the balance, checks written, and deposits made. 
     (D.) Checking account deposit slips. 
     (E.) A folder containing all of the above . 
     In regards to the dedicated microprocessor, four high priority routines are present which are able to interrupt the main program: 
     (1.) When the &#34;STOP&#34; position is selected, it halts the processor and turns off the display. 
     (2.) Depressing the &#34;CLEAR&#34; button will clear the display and second register if not in &#34;STOP&#34;. 
     (3.) When the &#34;REMOVE PROTECT&#34; button is depressed, the contents of the memory effectively become zero, if not in &#34;STOP&#34;. 
     (4.) When the &#34;POST BALANCE&#34; button is depressed, the contents of the display are added to the contents of memory, if not in &#34;STOP&#34;. When the unit is set at &#34;START&#34; the contents of the memory will appear in the display.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 912,925 filed June 5,1978, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,109.

CROSS REFERENCES

U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,702 issued in February, 1978 refers to a calculatorused in combination with a checkbook. These calculators serve multiplepurposes such as division, multiplication, addition, square roots,subtraction, etc. and in no way differ from other calculators for otherpurposes. In contrast, the electronic checkbook is a dedicatedmicroprocessor which will maintain a checking account balance and storethat balance on a day to day basis, even when the machine is not in use,unless there is a failure of the physical components.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an electronic checkbook for providing a meansto facilitate the computation, maintenance, and storage of a checkingaccount balance. Manually adding deposits and subtracting check amountsfrom a checking account balance is a time consuming nuisance,particularly when shopping or paying bills. The possibility exists thatmany individuals will write out several checks without balancing theircheckbook. This results in a possible unknown immediate balance of thechecking account of the user of a regular checkbook. A device has beendeveloped in the past which involves the incorporation of a calculatoralong with a checkbook in a folder. These calculators are multipurposedevices, i.e. the registers are shared with multiplying, dividing, etc.(See U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,702, February, 1978). Inherently these devicesare composed of potentially unnecessary complexity of function formaintaining checking account balances. They do not support the sequenceof a checking account. They are merely useful tools. The electroniccheckbook is dedicated to the problem of checking account balances andmaintains the continuity of the process.

The present invention relates to an electronic checkbook which can bemade inexpensively and produced in a very compact portable package. Itis designed specifically for the computation and storage of checkingaccount balances and will both store the balance of the account evenwhen the machine is not in use as well as enforce portions of thecomputational sequence. The embodiment of the device is of such a naturethat when the unit is not in use, the contents of memory are absolutelypreserved, short of some failure of the physical components. In theinitial embodiment, the components used require that the battery powerdoes not fail or be interrupted in order to maintain the integrity ofthe stored contents of memory. Other components that are presentlyavailable are non-volatile in their memory characteristics. Examples aremagnetic ferrite core, electronically alterable integrated circuits, andvarious film technologies, to list a few. The concept of storing therequired memory as a normal portion of the inactive operating cycle of adevice of this type, is not predicated on any of these specifiedtechniques of memory and they are mentioned only to illustrate lessoptimum choices which are presently available, although any other choicemight be favorable at another time. Other objects and purposes of theinvention are clarified by the following detailed description of thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the interior of the foldercontaining the electronic checkbook.

FIG. 2 illustrates a front view of the character display.

FIG. 3 illustrates the dedicated microprocessing unit.

FIG. 4 is a switch interconnection diagram relating to FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic of the electronic circuitry of theelectronic checkbook.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference is now made to FIG. 1 which shows a perspective view of theinterior of the folder 16 containing the electronic checkbook. The lowerportion of the folder 16 contains standard size checks 18 bound togetherwith checking account deposit tickets 18. On the right side of the upperportion of FIG. 1 are check stubs 20 possessing numbers corresponding tothe standard checks located in the lower portion of the folder andfunctioning as a place where the user could manually record the amountof the check written, who it was written to, and what it was writtenfor. The stub also provides a space where the user could make a writtenrecord of his balance, deposits, and the amounts of the checks he haswritten. The left hand side of the upper portion of the checkbookcontains a view of the panel 22 of the electronic device. As can be seenin FIG. 1, the electronic checkbook can be made to be compact, portable,and operate from internal battery source. The keyboard, indicatedgenerally as 24, is composed of ten numerical keys, a clear key, adecimal point key, plus a number of function keys. Following is anexplanation of how a user of the electronic checkbook would operate thedevice using both the keyboard and function keys.

(1) When the battery is installed, all registers will reset to ZERObalance.

(2) If by some sequence you find you have a wrong balance, use thefollowing sequence to clear all registers: (A.) Move the Start-Stopswitch 26 to "START". (B.) Depress the "CLEAR" button 30. (C.) Depressthe "REMOVE PROTECT" button 32. (D.) Depress the "POST BALANCE" button34. (E.) Move the Start-Stop switch 26 to "STOP". (F.) The balance willnow be set at zero.

(3) A. To make a deposit or a series of deposits, use the followingsequence: (1) Move the Start-Stop switch 26 to "Start". Your balancewill now appear in the display 42. (2) Press the "DEPOSIT" button 38.(3) Key in the deposit amount on the keyboard 24. (4) Press the "TRIALBALANCE" button 40 for each deposit. (5) To store the new balance, pressthe "REMOVE PROTECT" button 32 and then the "POST BALANCE" button 34.

B. To see how many checks you will be able to draw against your presentbalance, perform the following sequence: (1) Move the Start-Stop switch26 to "START". Your balance will show on the display 42. (2) Press the"CHECK" button 36. (3) Key in the amount of the check on the keyboard24. (4) Press the "TRIAL BALANCE" button 40 for each check. Each timeyou reach a trial balance, the remainder will update. As long as you donot strike the last two keys (REMOVE PROTECT 32, POST BALANCE 34) topost the balance, you will not alter the stored balance. When you arefinished, move the Start-Stop switch 26 to "STOP". The balance will beas it had been before you started. When you go back to the "START"position, the balance you stored will appear in the display 42. Itshould be noted that the display 42 is a register. Its contents areconstantly displayed on the digital display except when a key isdepressed or when the Start-Stop switch 26 is on "STOP".

(4) When you are prepared to enter your trial balance as your newbalance, perform the following operations.

(a) Push the button labeled "X" 44. This will cause the protective cover46 located over the "REMOVE PROTECT" 32 and "POST BALANCE" 34 buttons tospring open. After the protective cover has opened, press "REMOVEPROTECT" 32 and then "POST BALANCE" 34. Do not press "POST BALANCE" 34more than once as this will cause an error. If you think it might bewrong simply press "REMOVE PROTECT" 32 again and then press "POSTBALANCE" 34 after you have released "REMOVE PROTECT" 32. Whateverbalance is showing on the display 42 when you enter the sequence "REMOVEPROTECT" 32 "POST BALANCE" 34, will then be stored in the balanceregister.

(5) When you are finished, if you want to check that the correct balanceis being saved, move the Start-Stop switch 26 to "STOP". "START" againand the amount stored in the register 42 will be displayed.

(6) If your balance is an even number of dollars or dimes, the balancewill be displayed without the end zeros. This will not alter theaccuracy of your electronic checkbook.

The digital display 42 may consist of either an L.E.D. (light emittingdiode) or L.C.D. (liquid crystal display) or any device capable ofproducing such a display. The stored balance of the checkbook would bedisplayed here when the machine is activated. Individual check ordeposit entries would also appear here as they are entered into themachine. New balances, resulting from adding deposits or substractingchecks after pressing the "TRIAL BALANCE" button 40 would also appearhere.

A spring 48 opens the protective cover 46 located over the "REMOVEPROTECT" 32 and "POST BALANCE" 34 buttons. The function of theprotective cover 46 is to keep the "REMOVE PROTECT" 32 and "POSTBALANCE" 34 buttons from being accidentally depressed.

FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5 refer to the description of the embodiment of theelectronic checkbook function which follows. Before describing suchfunction, several items in the aforementioned drawings are refered to.FIG. 2 represents a front view of the character display showing thewiring relationship. All connections labeled "J" 50 in FIG. 2 aretypical of eight corresponding character locations. "J" 50 illustratesthe portion of that character that is connected to all eight. Referenceis also made to the substrate connection 52 to select the character. Thededicated microprocessor 54 is depicted in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 represents theswitch closure table and FIG. 5 of the device connected to internalbattery source 56.

The detailed description of the embodiment of the electronic checkbookfunction is referred to as follows. The data collection, and logicalprocessing of the electronic checkbook may all be accomplished on asingle chip computer. The computer may be a fixed program type,sometimes called a calculator chip. The program sequentially tests for aclosure to occur between pins 5,6,7, or 8 of the package, and pins,10,12,13,15,16, or 17 of the package. When such a closure is detected,the chip processing halts until the closure ceases. Upon termination ofthe closure, the processor executes an appropriate response. Of the 24possible selections which may be achieved by connecting one of the groupof four to any one of the group of six, each has a differentsignificance. Table 1 shows the specific responses for each of theclosures used.

                  TABLE 1                                                         ______________________________________                                        First Group                                                                            Second Group                                                         Pin      Pin         Designation                                                                              Response                                      ______________________________________                                        5        10          REMOVE     set memory to                                                      PROTECT    ZERO                                          6        10          START      display memory                                8        10          POST       add display to                                                     BALANCE    memory                                        5        13          7          enter 7                                       6        13          8          enter 8                                       7        13          9 enter 9                                                5        15          4          enter 4                                       6        15          5          enter 5                                       7        15          6          enter 6                                       5        16          1          enter 1                                       6        16          2          enter 2                                       7        16          3          enter 3                                       6        17          0          enter 0                                       5        12          C          clear display                                 7        17          .          enter decimal                                 8        15          CHECK      subtract next                                                                 entry                                         8        16          DEPOSIT    add next entry                                8        17          TRIAL      tally last                                                         BALANCE    instruction                                   ______________________________________                                    

Many changes and modifications in the above described embodiment of theinvention can of course be carried out without departing from the scopethereof. Accordingly, that scope is intended to be limited only by thescope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic checkbook comprising:(a) a carriermember having first and second surface portions; (b) a plurality ofchecks connected to one of said surface portions; (c) a plurality ofrecord members connected to one of said surface portions, said recordmembers each having indicia and guidelines for recording of hand writteninformation thereon; (d) a microprocessor attached to one of saidsurface portions for computing and maintaining numerical informationquantities related to the information contained in said record members;and (e) said record members and said microprocessor being located onsaid carrier member in directly adjacent relation.
 2. Apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein said carrier member is a sheet providedwith a fold along a midline to provide a folder wherein said first andsecond surface portions are on the same side of said sheet and separatedby said fold.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidmicroprocessor includes means for storing information even when saidmicroprocessor is not otherwise in use, means for recalling storedinformation, and means for displaying stored information upon startwhereby displayed information can be affected by the performance of anycomputational operation or sequence of computational operations andagain displayed for error avoidance of approval whereupon the amount maythen be stored in the same manner.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said record members are individually removably connected to oneof said surface portions of said carrier member.
 5. Apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein said checks are located on one of said surfaceportions of said carrier member and said microprocessor and recordmembers are located on the other of said surface portions.